Let me hear your voice
by LadyLuna78
Summary: Due to the tragic passing of Bethany LadyLuna78 this story will not be updated unless someone choses to continue it. Please see inside for more details.
1. Mariel

**Let me hear your voice**

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing I tell you! I do use the name Snoopy, but it's no relation to Charlie Brown's cute doggie! I only own Mariel and Jannette!

**Note:** My first shot at a TMNT fic! Please be nice and don't flame, though I welcome constructive criticism. Not a whole bunch of action in the prolouge, but I promise it that it will pick up soon!

**Prolouge**** - Mariel**

A young girl walked slowly through the snow covered park. The sky was a muted grey color and the once beautiful trees were now cold and lifeless, like her soul had always seemed to be. The only sound she could hear was the quiet crunch of snowflakes beneath her feet.

There were people all around her, laughing, sharing secret kisses with their lovers, having snowball fights, and just enjoying the winter season. Mariel took no notice, she hardly ever did. She didn't care.

It wasn't that she hated people; it was people that seemed to hate her. For as long as she could remember, she had been shipped around from foster home to foster home. Each home was worse than the last. She had never been treated kindly. Always, beaten, yelled at, starved, and sometimes even raped.

She gave an involuntary shudder and pulled her coat tighter about her small frame. But despite all the horrific mistreatment, she had never made a single sound. She had never screamed in pain from beatings or pleaded to be taken to another home. Whenever she was told to do something, she did it without a sound. People always assumed that she was a mute because she was stupid or just couldn't talk.

The funny thing was, she wasn't quite sure why she was a mute in the first place. She hadn't always been one, of that she was sure. Only once when she was ten did one of her foster parents care enough to take her to a doctor about it, and this was only after she hadn't screamed during a beating involving a knife. They had told the doctor that she had gotten her injuries from a fight with the neighborhood bullies when they cornered her for money. The senile old fool had bought the story without question saying that sadly, events like that were common in New York.

The doctor had kept her in his office for a good portion of five hours trying to persuade her to talk and running tests on her. He came to the conclusion that something had happened in the past that was so traumatic, probably her parents' deaths, that her mind was still in a form of shock and had locked up her ability to speak.

That was the other thing she wasn't sure of, her real parents. All she could remember was the fact that she had been found wondering the streets when she was five, covered in blood and dirt but seemingly unharmed aside from the fact that she was a mute. They didn't know her name, so they called her Mariel. Not long after, the nightmarish cycle began.

She slowed her pace even more as she made her way to the edge of the park. From here it was only six blocks to the dingy apartment complex where she lived with her latest foster mother, Janette. The air temperature around her seemed to drop another ten degrees as she thought of returning to that place. The others had abused her. This woman just plain annoyed her.

Janette Parkinson was a vain, short tempered woman with a gorilla nicknamed Snoopy (Mariel had no desire to know why) for a boyfriend. She also thought she was destined to be a Broadway star. She was constantly fretting over herself in some kind of mirror and going out to parties with 'Snoopy-kins'. She told Mariel that she had only adopted her as a maid and cook. In her words, "A personal servant for me when I'm famous".

Janette almost always had some comment to make about Mariel's appearance and the fact that she wouldn't talk. In fact, her favorite past time was comparing herself to Mariel in front of Snoopy. She remembered what had happened earlier.

"You see, my little Snoopy-kins?" she had said at dinner that evening. Mariel was going to the kitchen to clean her plate. She'd been eating dinner in her small bedroom as always. 'Servants' were not allowed at the table.

"Her hair is so thin and dirty looking. My hair is perfectly clean and gorgeous. And look at the color! It's such an ugly brown! Mine is a pretty blonde! Her eyes are too big to! And too blue! And urgh, those **_glasses_**! And she won't even talk! I know she can! So talk! Go on!" she got up and walked over to Mariel.

"Tell me to shut up! I know you want to! Or are you just scared? Scared because you know Snoopy will beat your ass if you do! That's it! You're too stupid and ugly for my lovely eyes to look at! Go and get us some ice cream so I don't have to see you!" she screamed.

_Can't wait to be out the door._Mariel thought wryly as she threw on an old coat of Janette's and left quickly.

Snoopy had just nodded dumbly throughout the whole thing, while staring at Janette's chest. Intelligence on so many levels.

Mariel had contemplated running away several times over the years, but had pushed the thought quickly to the back of her mind. There was no way a sixteen year old girl would last out in the middle of New York City for more then a two days if she managed to live through the night without being raped and murdered.

_It's still four more blocks,_ She thought. _And it's getting dark. Trust that bitch to send me out for ice cream alone at sunset._ She clutched the plastic bag she was carrying from the store a bit tighter and decided to quicken her pace. The sun was no longer visible and the streetlights had come on a few moments earlier.

She considered taking a short cut she had found the other day. The only problem was it involved walking through a long alleyway that all but screamed 'looking to get raped? Apply here!'

She took a breath and swallowed her nervousness as she took her chances and started down the alley. She jumped when she thought she heard someone on the roof above her. Dismissing it as the wind, she kept walking. She heard it again, and began to run. When she was almost out of the alley, she had to stop for breath, her chest heaving with her silent breathing. She looked down the alley and saw no one. Then she realized something.

_I've dropped the freaking ice cream! Perfect! Janette's going to have a field day with me. She's – _She was cut off by trash can beside her moving slightly and her eyes widened as she looked around. She was completely surrounded by strange men in black ninja outfits. Each one had a red marking on the front of their outfit which she recognized from the news to be the symbol of the Foot.

_I'm going to die._ She thought.

She began to back up against the wall as they took out their weapons and advanced toward her slowly.

She was trapped. And she couldn't even scream.


	2. Silent surprise

**Let me hear your voice**

This was previously under the name BlackroseKitsune!

**Disclaimer:** I don't own TMNT! But I wish I did…

**Notes:** First off, I would like to thank everyone who reviewed! I feel wuved. . Secondly, and on a slightly more serious note, because of my schedule lately I am only going to be able to update about once or twice every month or so. I'm SO sorry about the wait! The good news is it should only be this way a bit longer. Curse exams… Curse 14-page reports… . 

**Chapter One – Silent Surprise**

_**She began to back up against the wall as they took out their weapons and advanced toward her slowly.**_

_**She was trapped. And she couldn't even scream.**_

Donatello sighed as he gazed up at the night sky. His legs swung lazily over the edge of his perch which happened to be the roof of an old apartment building. He knew he should be patrolling the area as he always did every night until Mikey came to relieve him, but he just didn't feel like it for some reason. He could picture the look on Leo's face if he ever found out that Don was skipping out on his responsibilities. A lecture would probably follow. But at the moment, Don couldn't care less. Let Leo preach 'till the cows came home if he wanted.

A slight breeze rustled the tails (a/n: are they tails? I think they are.) of his ninja mask. He heaved another sigh. Lately, he had been feeling more and more depressed. No not exactly depressed. It was more like overwhelmed and slightly alone. You see he loved his family dearly, but he couldn't help thinking that they took advantage of him. As the smartest of the four, he was trusted to have all the answers. He was trusted to come up with some amazing new invention to help them each time they were in a fix. Speaking of fix, he was also expected to fix every little thing that got broken, busted, maimed, etc. Usually the end results of Raph's temper or Mikey's innocent klutziness.

And yet for everything he did, not one of his brothers, even his sensei sometimes ever said thank you. Sure, he got some praise in the middle of a fight when he used a trinket from his 'bag of tricks' to help them. But more often then not the comments were brief and he couldn't even hear them over the sounds of the fighting.

And as for being alone, he just couldn't stop thinking about how he'd never be able to find someone to love. He prayed that his brothers wouldn't find out about this. If they knew about how much he dreamed of being in love, they'd probably laugh him out of the Lair. He also wished for someone who, even if they didn't love him, would understand him. Understand what it's like to be singled out as the quiet one, the one who seems to be ignored or taken advantage of. Not that he'd ever wish that on someone, but at least he'd be able to talk to someone easier. Unfortunately that was never going to happen. All because of what he was. A mutant turtle.

He vaguely remembered the fact that he was supposed to be on the lookout for anything suspicious. Then something caught his eye. Foot ninja were sprinting into an alley not too far away. He found it odd that they were ignoring him, but figured that was probably because they were surrounding someone else. He sighed for what seemed to be the millionth time that night. _Time to play hero. Again._ And he made his way along the rooftops.

_**Mariel…**_

The Foot ninja were getting closer. They'd be within striking range any second. _This is it._ She thought. _I'm going to die here and nobody's even going to know. But then again, nobody cares either. Oh well, might as well try to fight seeing as how I'm doomed anyway._ She looked around frantically for anything to use as a weapon or means of escape. Her eyes came to rest on a decrepit old fire escape ladder. One problem: There was a ninja blocking it. Thinking quickly, she grabbed an empty garbage can and threw it. She was rewarded with a THUNK and the ninja falling like a sack of potatoes.

She scrambled over to the ladder and began to climb like a madwoman. Unfortunately she didn't make it very far. One of the bunch came over and grabbed her ankle, yanking it viciously downward. Mariel winced as her hands were scrapped and cut against the rusty ladder rungs as she was pulled down. She struggled against her captor's iron grip furiously, but to no avail. Then she did the only other thing she could think of. She kicked him in the… you know where I mean. With a grunt he let her go but more were there to take his place.

This time, three ninja held her while the leader came over brandishing an old pipe. _Well, time to say hello to the devil._ She slowly lifted her eyes to meet his. The ninja gave a startled gasp and hesitated. The look in her eyes was haunting. It was almost like they were pleading for death. And as for the eyes themselves, they had turned a cloudy grey color. He recovered quickly though. He almost felt sorry for her. Here she was looking like death was the thing she wanted most, and yet their mission was to merely capture her for the Shredder. With a final glance at her, he brought the pipe down over her head, knocking her unconscious.

Her eyes weren't the only thing that had unsettled him though. It was also the fact that the girl had made hardly a noise. No noise at all actually. With a nod to his men, they began to make their way to the rooftops. He turned to follow when the screams of his men reached his ears. His head whipped around in time to see the ones that were supposed to have the girl come crashing to the ground knocked senseless. But where was the girl? Then he saw one of those ninja turtles running off with her. Shredder was not going to be pleased…

"Get them!" he roared in frustration. And the chase was on.

_**Donatello…**_

_Great, just great._ He thought. He was on the run with a troupe of Foot ninja behind him, an unconscious girl in his arms, and was facing an angry Leo waiting for him at the Lair. Isn't life peachy? As he jumped from rooftop to rooftop, he became aware of the decision he had to make. He couldn't leave this girl out here if the Foot were after her, but he couldn't take her back to the Lair, could he? He jumped down into an alley and made his way over to the manhole that led to his home. _Now or never, Don._ Placing Mariel down gently, he lifted the manhole cover, grabbed her and made his way down into the sewers.

As he walked, he managed to get a good look at Mariel for the first time. For a human, she was kinda cute. Her brown hair swished softly and her face was heart shaped. Her glasses gave her a slightly more intelligent look. She looked about his age but something was wrong. She felt extremely light in his arms and she had a slightly frail form. Also, her clothing appeared to be old, faded, and in some places torn. _Must live a hard life._ He found himself thinking.

His mind drifted to the alley when he had seen her surrounded by the Foot. He had arrived right around the time she had been hit over the head, but he found it odd that she hadn't been screaming, fighting back, or anything. He concluded that she must have just been in shock. But that didn't explain why the Shredder wanted her. She didn't appear to have anything of value, but then you can't always judge by appearances.

He made his way into the Lair and was surprised that no one, not even Splinter was there. He walked over to the old subway car that doubled as a crude medical ward and laid her on the bed. Noticing her hands, he went to get a first aid kit. He returned a few moments later and began to wrap up her hands.

_**Mariel…**_

Mariel was vaguely aware of the sensation of being carried. Her head feeling like a load of bricks had been dropped on it didn't help. Oddly enough she wasn't worried. Even though she couldn't see who was carrying her, she knew she could trust them. She felt herself being placed on a bed and heard the person walking off for a moment.

Whoever it was gently took her sore hands in theirs and began to bandage them. _This is weird,_ she thought. _Their hands feel weird. Like they don't have enough fingers or something. And they feel… scaly._ Then the hands let go of hers and a warm cloth was put on her forehead. Finally her eyes remembered how to work. They fluttered open slowly and adjusted to the dim lighting. But she could care less about the lighting.

In front of her was a giant turtle wearing a purple mask.

_What kind of cruel madness have I become the victom of!_


	3. Bethany's Passing and story continuation

Hello. In case you are wondering, I am not LadyLuna78. My name is Nicole and I was a very close friend of Bethany's (LL78). I am here to briefly deliver some tragic news.

Bethany was diagnosed with chronic leukemia when she was 10. She had chemotherapy performed as well as some radiation treatments to fight off the disease. All seemed to be going well until recently.

About a week ago her condition began to suddenly worsen for still unknown reasons. She was admitted to the hospital shortly after where she stayed as she continued to slowly get weaker. Then, late Monday night Bethany passed away.

This sudden turn of events has shaken everyone who knew her. I do not know how well anyone on this site knew her, but I am here to say that for obvious reasons this story and her other stories will not be continued on this account. Even though we shared this account, I only read fan fictions and used this account as a bookmark for my favorite stories. I never wrote any (this is why I didn't include myself in the profile) and I'm afraid to try and continue any of her stories for fear of ruining them.

Bethany and I were talking a few days before she died. She asked me to write a note to you guys sending her deep apologies that the story was never continued like she wanted it to be. She even said that posting a chapter was one of the first things she would've done when released from the hospital. Letting people down, even on the internet was something she hated the most.

So with all of this being said I come to you with an offer that I know Bethany would make herself if she could.

If anyone would like to continue this story, you may do so. However to prevent the chance of multiple people trying to do the exact same story, I ask you to contact me at:

Zim(underscore)rox(underscore)mah(underscore)sox(at)yahoo(dot)com

With a subject line of: Continuation of story: LMHYV

The first one to contact me will get to continue the story. I only ask that you please give credit to Bethany for the initial idea of the story.

_In loving memory of LadyLuna78 (Bethany)_

_1/18 1990 - 6/20 2005_


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